When the Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce Spice Up Spring Pueblo Chile Recipe Competition launched Friday, I felt nervous to serve as a judge.

As a green chile fanatic and bona fide foodie, I figured it was in my wheelhouse, but I also wondered what I should do to prepare. All I could think of was to stuff my pockets with tissues in case the food was so hot it made my eyes water.

I also wore the loosest clothes I could find in my closet.

Luckily, I was joined by fellow judges John Jakeman and Jerry Carter, both longtime experienced executive chefs who've been down this road before. They graciously educated me on the finer points of judging.

Jakeman, director of nutritional services for the Senior Resource Development Agency, joked that it’s not too hard to judge food because “I’ve been eating all my life.” He has judged as many as 18 green chile dishes in a day during past Chile and Frijole Festival events, so he’s a pepper expert.

Carter, director of catering for Aladdin Dining Services at both Pueblo Community College and Colorado State University Pueblo, has judged at least a dozen chile competitions at the Colorado State Fair. He said he prepared for Friday's competition by skipping breakfast.

Both chefs have a well-seasoned sense of humor that made it an absolute delight to spend the entire day with them traveling to nine Pueblo eateries to judge delectable dishes.

The event set my spring on fire, made my tongue dance and exposed my senses to a peppery plethora of culinary chile combos the likes of which I would never have dreamed possible.

Competing chefs were asked to create their most delicious recipes inspired by the versatility of the iconic Pueblo chile. Four categories — cocktail, appetizer, entrée and dessert — were established. Some contestants competed in all four categories while others opted to focus on just one.

All told, the chefs and I sampled 20 different delightful creations.

Without further ado, following are the first-place winners.

Cocktail category: Twenty One Steak

The Pueblo Chile Paloma dreamed up by Twenty One Steak bartenders Dimitri Orozco and Alec Garcia is an ideal summer cocktail perfect for sipping on the outdoor patio. The citrus-infused tequila drink features grapefruit, orange and lemon juices, Pueblo green chile and agave.

The rim of the glass was garnished with Milberger Farms Pueblo chile seasoning salt and topped with dehydrated blood oranges and lime peels.

Appetizer category: Romero’s Café

Pueblo Chile Cones are a tortilla filled with cheddar cheese and Pueblo chile supplied by Crites Produce, wrapped in bacon before being expertly deep fried to crisp-on-the-outside, gooey-on-the-inside perfection.

“That’s my creation for the Chile Festival,” said Robert Romero, restaurant owner. “I sold 2,000 of them at last year’s festival — they flew off the shelf.”

Romero is a two-time world champion and has more than 75 awards for his chile creations, so he has earned his moniker, “Mr. Chile.”

Entree category: Papa Mario's food truck

Tiffany Gernazio won big with her grilled cheese, called “The Senior,” which she dedicated to her father. It is a secret family recipe that features marinated roast beef, lots of cheese, fresh grilled onion and loads of Musso Farms Pueblo chiles, so it oozed with juices and delicious flavors.

“That was the ultimate Pueblo comfort food,” Carter said as the other judges and I waddled away from the Papa Mario's food truck.

“I am literally completely shocked,” Gernazio said Monday after learning she won the top prize for the entree.

The win is the crown jewel in Gernazio's cache of honors  In 2½ years of running the food truck, she’s won Governor’s Plate and People’s Choice awards at the Colorado State Fair, won in both entrée and dessert categories during Flavor of Pueblo, and grabbed a half-dozen Best of Pueblo awards too.

Dessert category: Brues Alehouse

A Japanese-style cheesecake dessert dreamed up by certified Pastry Chef Isabel Burson was a glorious dessert: a Pueblo chile-infused white chocolate cheesecake. The cheesecake was accompanied by costars like a milk chocolate cream, a candied honey comb, a chile chocolate fudge and fresh berries, all topped with a delicate sliver of candied Pueblo chile.

The top four finishers all will be presented Wednesday with $250 cash, two bushels of Musso Farms Chile and a Victoria Krage chile-themed urban sheet metal plaque.

More chile news: Slop till you drop: Pueblo's Top 10 slopper stops named by local foodies

Tracy's Choice Awards

Five contestants didn’t take home a top prize, but in my heart they are all winners, so I made up my own awards.

Best cheese: Milberger Farms

Dalton Milberger has been cooking for 23 years and farming even longer, so when he and his family decided to supply their homegrown Pueblo chiles to Springside Cheese for its pepper jack cheese, it was a match made in heaven. That cheese is the best ever.

Best use of chorizo: Taco Casa

Taco Casa’s Pueblo Chorizo Grinder sandwich is the perfect pairing of hot Pueblo chile and Double J Meats homemade chorizo.

Best hummus: Cinfully Delicious Catering

Cindy Reyes created a homemade Pueblo Chile hummus that I believe could outsell any commercial hummus brand. It was so creamy, fresh and lovely that Carter said he could eat it all day long.

Best fry bread: The Lunchbox food truck

Jessica Casack makes her fry bread dough the night before to allow it ample time to rise. She served the fry bread perfection topped with a tender, juicy roast beef, Pueblo Chile and a citrus sour cream.

Best collaboration: Ruby's and PexPeppers

Ruby’s Isabella Serena teamed up with Garrett Peck of PexPeppers Hot Sauces to create a Pueblo Mary cocktail, a new take on the Bloody Mary. The vodka cocktail featured a miniature jar of Peck’s Pueblo Red Hot Sauce made from roasted red Pueblo chile so each judge could make the drink as hot as they wanted it.

Best Friday ever: Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce

“Best Friday ever,” Carter said, toasting our chamber chauffeurs and all-things-Pueblo experts Cara Siegel, Lisa Hendricks and Krystle Herrera, who made sure we got to each venue, had plenty of water and thanked us with a gift bag full of Pueblo chile swag.

The real winners here are Pueblo residents who have endless opportunities to eat Pueblo chiles at local restaurants and food trucks on a daily basis.

“At the end of the day, what a culinary blessing we have in Pueblo,” Carter said. “The diversity we have, all these amazing dishes and locally sourced food — you don’t see that in a town this size.”

“We are doing Pueblo proud,” Carter said.

More chile news: Here's how a man fought liver failure, started a hot sauce company and found Pueblo chiles

Chieftain reporter Tracy Harmon covers business news. She can be reached by email at tharmon@chieftain.com or via Twitter at twitter.com/tracywumps.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo chile recipe competition shows diversity of city's pepper